Dassai Artisans獺祭の蔵人

Asahi Shuzo is putting the best effort it can at the moment into sake brewing. One of the challenges toward this goal is the "Craft Dassai" sake. Two young brewers, who have been with the company for three to five years, are in charge of all processes from rice washing to bottling, with the aim of creating "a Dassai sake that respects Dassai's spirit". Seiki also took on the challenge.
"Actually, I didn't volunteer myself, but was asked by a fellow employee who was getting married to make a Dassai sake together for the wedding reception."
Thus began the sake-making process by the duo, who had been with the company for five years.
"We were told that many of the guests at the reception would be women, so we decided to make a slightly sweeter sake that would be easy to drink. It was a great success for us and was well received. Above all, we were happy that the reception was so lively."

Seiki explains the difficulty of making koji, which he is now in charge of.
"Koji is a living thing, so it grows at different speeds depending on the amount of water and other small differences. It is difficult because there is no right answer, but it is also challenging because of that." Seiki, who says that taking upon the challenge of "Craft Dassai" has made him realize anew the depth of sake brewing, says with a twinkle in his eye, "Eventually, I would like to release a perfect Dassai, one that is exactly as I want it to be."
When asked about the secret of making good koji, Seiki replied, "I choose the best method based on both sensory aspects, such as the feel of the koji in your hands, and data, such as moisture content.

Ide, who joined Asahi Shuzo in 2016, had previously worked in sales in Osaka. He has since honed his rice-polishing skills and accumulated know-how. Then, a difficult job came his way, developing a new product called "Dassai Mirai : To the Future, With Farmers", it was decided to challenge an extreme 8% rice polishing ratio. Ide was appointed as the person in charge of the project.
"When I heard about the 8%, I was honestly worried about whether I could do it or not. When we started the work, we found that if we polished the rice up to 8%, the rice would become too light and the milling machine would spin around empty. Now, this was a problem."
How did Ide overcome this problem?
"Eventually, we gathered the rice polished by several machines into one machine. This was time-consuming and took about 2.5 times longer than usual, or about 10 days to polish the rice."

"It was interesting because it was all new to me. When the sake was finished, I felt a great sense of accomplishment."
It seems clear on why Ide was chosen to be in charge of this unprecedented project.

Asahi Shuzo currently sources Yamada Nishiki rice from 22 prefectures in Japan. Ide says that it is important for the rice polishing process to discern the subtle differences in properties between the different growing regions.

Takashi Mitsui, who has been with the company for four years, graduated from an elementary school right next to the company's brewery.
He is the junior of the chairman (Hiroshi Sakurai) and the president (Kazuhiro Sakurai) in elementary school, and is said to be part of the 'strongest academic clique' among the employees!
Mitsui came to work at Asahi Shuzo on the recommendation of his high school teacher, he first worked managing sake fermentation tanks. He is now in charge of assembling the bottling machine, which fills bottles with sake, and inspecting the products in this process.
He says, "I come early in the morning to assemble the filling machine. If I don't do this properly, there will be errors on the line which we want to avoid, so I have to be very careful. I used to be in charge of shubo fermentation control, so I know how carefully sake is made. This adds to the importance of processes down the line such as bottling.
Mitsui is still in his early twenties and is gradually gaining experience in sake crafting. He has a lot to learn, but at the same time, his possibilities are endless.

Shoya Uetsuki explained the process he is currently working on: "It is the process of making shubo, which is the base, the mother of sake."
"Every process is important, but making shubo is the first step in the process of making sake, so it is a critical point that determines the taste."

The reason why Uetsuki decided to join Asahi Shuzo is quite interesting:
"My major at university was in a completely different field, it had nothing to do with sake crafting. But when I thought about what kind of work I wanted to do, I decided that I wanted to work on creating the best product in the world. Asahi Shuzo makes the best sake in Japan, so it must be the best in the world. That's why I decided to join Asahi Shuzo."

He says that the two most important factors in taking care of shubo over a two-week period are data such as temperature, as well as understanding the condition of the yeast and rice.
"Stirring the mash is hard work and physically demanding, but it's fun to learn sake making from scratch."
Uetsuki, who switched from a different field to sake making, is absorbing the know-how of sake making like a dry sponge every day.

When asked, Hiromu Hamauzu began to speak enthusiastically about the importance of the koji making process he is in charge of.
"Koji contains enzymes and if the koji is not made in the right balance, the rice may or may not dissolve enough during fermentation, or the sake may have a sharp taste. In order to achieve the taste Dassai aims for, we must get as close as possible to the target values. It is with this in mind that we work on koji making."

Hamauzu, who studied microbiology at university, became interested in sake crafting when a senior student from the same seminar joined Asahi Shuzo.
"I clearly remember the first time I drank Dassai. It was fragrant, not heavy, easy to drink, yet deep in flavor, and I knew at first sip it was a delicious sake."

Hamauzou, who comes from Kochi Prefecture, proudly states,
"There are a lot of sake drinkers in my hometown, and I drink a lot of sake, but I am confident in the taste of Dassai."
In his third year with the company, Hamauzu has experienced a variety of processes, including rice washing, sake fermentation, and koji making, and he feels "a lot of pressure because if I make even one mistake, it will directly affect the taste of the sake."
At the same time, he says that he finds a great satisfaction in his work.